There are many occasions where liquids are processed to change the characteristics thereof. For example, liquids are frequently filtered to remove particulate matter therefrom. Liquids are also coacted with other materials to remove or otherwise alter the chemical composition of the liquids. In like manner, gasses can be processed to purify the same or change the chemical composition thereof.
Fluids can be processed in the foregoing manner by forcing the same through a media selected to achieve the desired result on the fluid. The processing of the fluids is often carried out by placing the media in a container, and passing the fluid, or influent, through the container to coact the fluid with the media. The output of the container is a fluid, or effluent, that is altered in the manner desired.
After a period of time, the media may become spent or exhausted, in that it can no longer provide the desired result on the fluid. In this event, the media must be either regenerated or replaced with new media. When removing particulate matter from a liquid, the media may be a non-bonded media, or other type of media that traps the particulate matter between the interstices of the media. The non-bonded media can be replaced with fresh media. Alternatively, the spent media can be regenerated by a backwash cycle to remove the particulate matter so that the media can again separate the particulate matter from the liquid.
Non-bonded media, i.e., powder, granular or beads, or other similar types of media can be employed to chemically alter liquids forced therethrough. In water softening equipment, the media provides an exchange of ions with the water processed therethrough so that the output of the equipment is soft water. In this type of processing apparatus, when the media is no longer effective to remove a majority of the ions from the hard water, the media undergoes a regeneration cycle. The regeneration cycle involves a period of time in which the equipment is off line, and a regenerating liquid, such as a salt brine, is passed through the spent media to remove the hardness ions therefrom.
In yet another application, water is passed through a media to remove undesired contaminants and/or chemicals therefrom, such as heavy metals, arsenic, etc. The media selected is of the type that can chemically remove the undesired material from the water to provide a more purified water that is free from the undesired chemicals. When the media becomes ineffective to remove the detrimental chemicals, either a fresh media can replace the spent media, or the spent media can be regenerated by processes that remove the undesired materials from the media. There are many other applications where the use of a media is beneficial to alter the composition of the fluid passed therethrough.
There are commercially available media-based systems that are effective to produce the desired result on the fluid passed therethrough. When the media is spent, the entire container and media held therein is discarded and a new fluid processing system is installed. It can be appreciated that in most situations, especially where large quantities or volumes of fluids are to be processed, it is more cost effective to provide a regeneration cycle for the media. This type of system reuses the media over and over, at the expense of being off line for the time the spent media is regenerated. These systems are generally more sophisticated and complicated, and allow the spent media to be brought into contact with the regeneration fluid. Nevertheless, it has been established that a system that is capable of regenerating the media is superior to the media replacement systems, primarily because of long term savings in material and labor costs and expenses.
In view of the importance placed on the removal of undesirable elements from fluids used directly or indirectly by people, it can be seen that a need exists for improved fluid and media processing systems that are less complicated, more cost effective, and of the type that are capable of providing regeneration of the media contained therein.